AN: I almost never do this, but I have decided to start posting this story despite the fact that I have not completely finished it yet. I do know exactly what I'm doing with it and I've completed over12,000 words so I think I should be able to make sure my writing keeps up with my posting. I really hope you enjoy this first chapter.
I will say one thing about this installment of this series: it's a little more heavy on the a/b/o dynamics area. The typical elements of those dynamics weren't very prevalent in my previous two installments, but those elements are a bit denser here, so be warned.
Something I'd like to add that is specific to this chapter: there is some information that isn't necessarily important to the plot of this story that I've added as a sort of footnote to this chapter. I highly recommend you take the time to read that.

If you have not read Surprising Things in Unlikely Places, go back and read that before you read this as this will make a lot more sense. I also recommend reading Delightful Surprises although it is less necessary.

Warning: Kidnapping and attempted rape as well as the return of a character everyone strongly dislikes if not hates (I hope).

The birth of the Boy-Who-Lived's daughter made the headlines in the Prophet. It was no less than what Harry and Severus expected, so they took it in stride. It never occurred to either of them just how far the article of their happy day reached.

Nathaniel wasn't up to much these days. It was now impossible for him to get a date anymore, thanks to that omega. He had become quite bitter now and spent a large percentage of his time in a pub in Italy , because at least then some people didn't recognize him. Anyone who ever did recognize him would send him a sneer – if they were being nice. He noticed a leftover newspaper on the table next to him and was about to continue his typical surveying of the room when something on the front page caught his eye. He went to pick it up, and what he found shocked him. Harry'd had a pup recently.

That bitch, he thought. How could he do this? After all I did to try and give him pups, he goes and he has one with someone else. In that moment, a plan started forming in Nathaniel's mind. He didn't recognize the small, niggling thought at first – he was too busy fuming – but it wouldn't be long until the idea had started forming.

A week after Nathaniel had seen the article in the paper, he had finally caught on to that thought. He felt he had a right to Harry's child. He'd been the omega's first mate, and you never truly forget or move on from your first mate, and he couldn't help but think that after all the times he'd tried to breed the bitch, surely there was something of him in that pup. Harry had no right to hold out on him like that, because it certainly wasn't Nathaniel's fault they'd never conceived.

The only problem was the pup's age. He'd never wanted any part of newborn pups. At that stage, they were good for nothing but keeping you up at night and stinking. With that in mind, he decided to wait. He would get what he deserved, though.

Four years passed, and Nathaniel finally thought the time was right to put his plan into action. No one would ever see this coming. He'd been keeping an eye on the household for years, and he knew exactly when he would need to act - when they would be the most defenseless and unaware. They were always the busiest in the morning, with the two adults getting ready and the girl sleeping. He'd already done checks on the wards, and they weren't very strong, to his surprise. Perhaps they hadn't thought they'd need them now that the obvious threats were all gone.

He apparated directly into the pup's room. She was sleeping, as he had expected, but nonetheless he poured some dreamless sleep potion down her throat to insure she wouldn't wake as he moved her. Then he waited. The omega would be coming into the room in no more than 15 minutes. He made sure he was prepared, mentally reviewing the moves he would make as he waited.

When the omega did come into the room, Nathaniel quickly put up silencing charms before he stepped out of hiding, holding the pup to his chest. "Long time no see," he said smugly.

Harry froze when he saw him in his daughter's room, with his daughter held at wand-point. "What do you want?" he demanded vehemently, pushing past the fear he felt.

"You, to come with me," Nathaniel said. He'd determined that he wanted to take the omega with him too – after all, he was an alpha and as such had no idea how to care for a pup because that was the role of an omega in the relationship.

"That's never going to happen," Harry said.

"Oh, but it is," Nathaniel said.

"I thought you didn't want me," Harry countered.

"Plans change. I'm just getting what's coming to me," insisted Nathaniel.

"You're certainly going to get what's coming to you," Harry replied, drawing his wand.

"Expelliarmus!" Nathaniel shouted, managing to take Harry by surprise. He let the omega's wand fall where it would. "Now, you can either come willingly, or I can force you. I like both options, so I'll let you decide."

Harry had come a long way in his healing since his days with Nathaniel, but that didn't mean he wasn't getting nervous being in the alpha's presence. He knew that as he was unarmed now his hope lay in Severus, so he rushed to the door that had been closed behind him. "Have it your way," he heard behind him, before he felt a stunning spell hit him, and then everything turned black.

Severus was waiting in the kitchen to eat breakfast with Harry and Ivy. It had been a long time since Harry had gone to wake their daughter, though, and he was getting worried. Something was definitely wrong in that moment. With a sudden surge of determination, he moved to his daughter's room. What he found there made his heart stop. Lying on the ground was Harry's wand, and lying on the pillow of Ivy's bed was a note, and he somehow knew that it would contain nothing but bad news.

Severus lifted the note off the bed with a shaky hand. Taking a deep breath, he unfolded it and began to read the note that had been written.

Dear Mr. Severus Snape,

I'm sure you know who I am – as whiny as Harry is, he's likely complained to you several times about me. I thought it was only fair to inform you of where two members of your household have gone. I've taken the omega and the pup with me, and you will never see them again. I will keep them with me, where they both belong. Do not come looking for them, or I will bring their lives to an abrupt end. You would be wise to count your losses and move on from this, for I am not easy to fight.

Sincerely,

Nathaniel Morgan

P.S. The bitch will pay for bearing another alpha's pup, and I hope you will keep that in mind over the next few weeks as you try to forget.

Severus felt his blood go cold. Harry had been taken. That was not acceptable. He needed to find this Nathaniel and make him rue the day he began to manipulate Harry. He would need to be careful though, because he wouldn't live with the deaths of his family on his conscience anymore than he would live with letting them be taken from him. He would need reinforcements.

Gradually, the weight of the situation began to fall on him. His mate had been taken from right under his nose, and he had not been aware enough to stop it. If he had just put up better wards to begin with, or heard something, or realized something, he could have stopped it and then Harry and Ivy would be safe with him. But no, he had been sitting at the breakfast table for Merlin knows how long after they had been taken, enjoying his morning cup of coffee, oblivious to the now obvious dangers to his family. They were gone, and it was all because he hadn't stopped the soon-to-be-dead alpha.

Remus woke up to a cold bed, and he was immediately in a bad mood. The one thing he hated most in the mornings was waking up without Sirius by his side. He just felt wrong without his mate there – lost, almost. It was still a miracle that he'd made it through the time Sirius spent in prison because of Peter. Now in a worse mood, Remus used the bathroom before going to search out where Sirius was.

To Remus's further annoyance, he found a note propped up on the kitchen table.

Remy,

Sorry I left you alone in bed, but I hated to wake you up so early when the Moon was just four days ago and you're still catching up on your rest – whether you're willing to admit it or not. The Ministry is trying to get too big for their britches again and it was borderline urgent so I had to leave at 6:00 this morning. I will be back as soon as I can, love. If you need anything, you know how to reach me. I promise I will make this up to you, because I do know how much you utterly despise sleeping alone. I love you with all my being.

Love,

Your Siri

Remus sighed. Okay, so Sirius did have a good reason, but that still didn't make him happy with his mate. Sirius did know how much Remus hated being in the bed alone, because nights had been some of the worst parts for Remus while Sirius had been imprisoned. He and Sirius had talked about it in-depth one night, though probably not as soon as they should have…

Sirius was out late one night, which was a bit unusual. After Harry went to bed at 11:30, Remus had decided he had better at least try and sleep. He went to his room and began undressing before laying down – on the side Sirius normally slept on because the smell comforted Remus. He might have been laying there for 10 minutes when he began to have some negative thoughts. There was a reason he hated sleeping alone – a reason he'd never shared with Sirius despite his better judgment.

After 45 minutes of nearly unbearable thoughts, Remus had to get out of bed. This reminded him too much of something else from the past. Throwing on a robe – he wasn't even sure whose it was – he went down to the library to wait for Sirius to come back. There was nothing like books to take his mind off of things…

When Sirius came home that night, he went to the bedroom he shared with his mate, and was surprised to find it empty. Remus rarely stayed up this late, especially the day before the full moon. Worried, Sirius began looking for Remus, not finding him until he thought to enter the library. There he found his mate sitting by the fire, a book in hand, and a faraway look in his eyes.

"Remy?" Sirius asked quietly.

"You're home," Remus said, sounding oddly relieved to see him.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I stayed out too late. I meant to come home at least an hour before midnight, but then Tonks and I got to talking, and you know how she can be sometimes… You know, you didn't have to wait up for me.

Remus only nodded. He then stood, put his book down – very gently – and walked over to Sirius, wrapping his arms around the other man's middle and quite obviously breathing in his scent.

"Are you alright, Remus?" Sirius asked. Now that he was in close proximity with his omega, he could smell the anxiety coming off him. It took extremely strong emotions to give off scent like Remus was doing, and Sirius rarely smelled any negative ones on Remus.

Again, Remus stayed silent. He was a little spooked, to be honest. He knew he hated sleeping alone, and Sirius was getting an inkling of that fact, but he'd never before felt anything like he had earlier that night. At least, not since Sirius had been returned to him legally 5 months ago. He just needed to bask in his alpha's presence for a little while longer, and then he would be okay.

Sirius was beyond worried now. Remus had said two words since he'd come home, and that wasn't normal. It wasn't normal for Remus to hug him like this out of nowhere either – not that they weren't affectionate with each other or anything. "Remus, talk to me, love," Sirius pleaded.

Taking one more deep breath, Remus moved to the couch that was in the room, refusing to let go of Sirius's hand even as they sat down together with Remus leaning back against Sirius as he often did. "I don't know where to start," Remus said. Sirius stayed silent, knowing that it would do no good to talk; Remus needed a few moments to translate his words into thoughts. That alone was a testament to how shaken up the man was. "I don't know how much you've realized, but I have a bit of a problem when it comes to sleeping alone," Remus began. Sirius had noticed that Remus rarely went to bed by himself, which was a new thing because when they had first been mated, it had never bothered Remus to go on to sleep if Sirius wasn't quite tired yet. Sirius still didn't say anything because Remus had only paused for breath, not a reply. "Normally, if you come to bed within 5 minutes of me laying down, it's not a problem, but when I went to bed tonight, I started getting spooked after about 10 minutes, and I tried to wait it out until I could fall asleep, but then it just got worse and I finally just had to get out of bed."

"I had no idea," Sirius said. "I noticed you always seemed to relax a little more after I got into bed with you, on the nights when you went to bed first, but I never realized it was really a problem for you or I would have made more of an effort to get home before too late. I'm sorry Remy," Sirius said, placing a gentle kiss in his mate's hair. "Is there any particular reason you have so much trouble going to sleep by yourself? Does it have something to do with Moony?"

"It's not Moony," Remus said. "Before I try to explain this, please know that it's not your fault at all."

"Alright," Sirius said, not completely sure he wouldn't blame himself anyway.

"I never had a problem with this before, but then they arrested you and that's when nighttime got really bad for me. The nights I didn't have trouble sleeping were few and far between. I'd lay in bed, and the darkness and the silence would make me start to think about things. It was always weird to be unable to hear you breathing next to me, not to feel you laying with me. It would always remind me of where you were. I would start to fret about you, to worry about what they might be doing to you. I had no idea if you were hurting or not, or if I would ever get you back, or what the Dementors might be making you relive. I couldn't bear the thought of you going through all that. And after losing our pup, I'd think about what might have been with them, where things could have gone. Sometimes I'd think about Peter, and how much I loathed him for framing you. Then there were a few times when I would start to wonder if maybe they were all right. Everyone told me I was crazy for thinking you were innocent, for accusing the man you'd supposedly killed of the crimes you were accused of by the Ministry. Sometimes I began to fear I really was going mad.

"I could handle the daytime. There are always times during the day when you're alone, even when you do have a mate, so I was normally able to distract myself during the day. I would try to do enough activities to wear me out, so that I would be exhausted enough to pass out at the end of the day, but I rarely succeeded. Something about trying to sleep alone just wouldn't let me forget where you were. Maybe if they hadn't severed our bond it would have been okay, because at least I could have had a hope of reaching out to you since I wasn't allowed to see you. I don't know. Trying to sleep by myself now still just tears me apart, though. It reminds me of those nights and it just hurts.

"Oh, Remy," Sirius said, holding the werewolf closer. He felt a tear fall onto his wrist from his mate's eyes seconds before he felt one of his own slip down his cheek. "I had no idea it was that bad. I promise you, I will do everything in my power to never make you sleep alone again. I love you so much, and I hate to see you suffer like this. I know it's not my fault, but I wish I hadn't had to go, to put you through that. The important thing is that I'm here now, and I have no intentions of being framed for murder again. I am by your side and you are the farthest thing from alone. Please, just next time tell me, or call me home, alright? I don't want you going through things like this on your own and not telling me, okay? I can help you. So never be afraid to talk to me."

"Okay," Remus said, snuggling further into Sirius's arms.

"So, is it just at night you have trouble being in bed by yourself, or is it a problem in the morning, too?"

"It's not as bad in the morning," Remus said, "but it's still not great to wake up alone, especially when I forget for a moment you've gotten out."

"Okay, well from here on out it will be my life's goal to make sure I never leave you in bed by yourself."

"Thank you."

Remus's reminiscing was cut short by a frantic knock on the door. Fearing the worst – frantic knocking was never good – Remus moved to the door. When he opened it, Severus immediately entered without waiting for an invitation. He pushed Remus a little on the way inside, which only added to Remus's growing concern because Severus never pushed him – or anyone else in their family – like that. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Severus looked at him, and there was something in his eyes that was unlike anything Remus had seen before. He noticed a scent coming off of Severus now. It wasn't something he'd smelled often, but it was a smell only alpha's could give off. It occurred when something an alpha cared for deeply was threatened. It was intended to tell people to back off of whatever was under attack, and to be perfectly honest it was putting Remus on edge. It wasn't a scent anyone wanted to be around. The only person it wouldn't cause anxiety for would be the alpha's mate, who it would actually have calming effects on. Remus was sure Severus had no idea he was producing it, though.

With a trembling voice, Severus said, "He's taken Harry. And it's all my fault," he added in a whisper that no one but a werewolf would have been capable of hearing. Severus held out the note to Remus, who took it unsteadily. He read through it several times before he fully grasped the meaning. He sank down onto the sofa. His system felt near to going into shock. The scent from Severus coupled with the thought that his pup and grand-pup had been taken by the worst possible person were making him feel trapped and anxious, and he needed something to calm down, but nothing would. He knew what he needed to do, though.*

Remus immediately began reaching out to Sirius. His body's current hypersensitive state helped him to get the signal through, because it was naturally reaching for his mate. He wasn't exactly sure what Sirius was getting – it wasn't an exact science – but he was sure that whatever it was would draw Sirius home.

*When an alpha and an omega mate, the bond creates a link between them that can be accessed over long distances. If either of them has need of the other, they just have to focus for a few moments, reach out, and the other will feel a tug, letting them know they are needed. Emotions can also be transferred. If one of them needs calming or reassurance, that can be provided over the distance. If one is distressed but doesn't 't have a way to verbalize it, the connection can take care of that as well. The bond that supports this connection – the bond that makes two people mates – cannot be broken by any kind of accident. There are three ways to do it, and each requires action to be taken on either the alpha or the omega, but not both. The first way is a potion that works through the body to undo anything that connects the alpha or omega to their mate. An alternative way is a spell that can be uttered and has the same effect. The one other way is particularly brutal...

During the public part of the mating ceremony, the bond is prepared, but the bond is not completed until the night, when the alpha and omega first (or sometimes for the hundredth time) unite intimately with each other in sexual intercourse. As the two are tied by the alpha's knot, the bond is finally fully complete. As the bond completes itself, a unique symbol will appear, glowing, on the back of the left hand of each of the mates. It is painless and remains visible for roughly an hour before fully settling into the skin where it is intended to remain. If the person breaking the bond desires the breakage to be painful, they can use the third method: a silver knife dipped in Baneberry Potion can be stabbed into the back of the left hand, causing excruciating pain to that person's hand – thought no pain to their mate. This always leaves a scar, though it has no effect on future mating.

When Sirius was taken to Azkaban, they had severed his bond with Remus in this manner, and Sirius had felt pain in his left hand from it for months, though that may have had more to do with the fact that he'd not had proper medical attention. When Nathaniel had ended things with Harry, he'd chosen to use the spell on himself because it was by far the easiest way – no bad taste, no pain, just a little tingle.

AN: That's all for now. I make no promises on the timing of the next chapter. Reviews/favorites/follows make my day :)